It’s proof that some of these guys and girls serving the masses their cheesecake and broiled salmon, they do care. Mark does 2500 covers a week, caters to a crowd that likes BIG portions, includes lots of ladies who lunch, favors the “pot roast nachos” and doesn’t order things with funny words in the title (confit, charcuterie). Mark smokes his own bacon, 40 to 60 sides a week he says, and cures and smokes his own hams.

Mark took it upon himself to get his own version of the Chicken Fried Pork Belly Caesar on the menu. After we exchanged ideas about terminology, I got this email from Mark:

I charged less for it than we do for the chicken Cæsar, but we still make more money on it. Go figure.

We fried some confit earlier and it was awesome. If you cut them in cubes, they look just like a crouton, but better. When they hit the salad, they sizzle and pop just like the old Rice Crispies commercials.

Sold two on the first ticket- just thought you’d appreciate that.

Most gratifying, indeed. Keller and Vongerichten and that crowd may be moving the food intelligentsia forward, but who is feeding The People? Chefs like Mark Mavrantonis.

A call for a critic: I will send a signed copy of Reach of a Chef to the first person who posts a review here of this dish (receipt signed by Mark if you really want the book!). Honestly—it’s a deal. I want to know how it tastes. A BONUS book will be included if the critic finds anyone else eating it and gets a man-on-the-street comment (customary journalistic rules apply, name, age, from where, verbatim quote, etc.).

Remember, this is not just a protest gimmick to rid the world of an outwardly heinous and inwardly evil offering—it’s really tasty as well. And, it works as a canapé—perfect finger food, cold lettuce, make the dressing mayo thick, a crouton of pork belly, parmesan on top, and you’re good to go (I was setting some up for some friends recently, very easy and a great canape because the fat stay hot for so long).

njg

Colleen

Wow! I never thought I would be so lucky! I live about ten minutes away from Ditka’s in Oakbrook, IL (the building is actually named after Mid America Bank). Hopefuly I can get over there to try this soon! Do you know how long it will be on the menu? I’ve only been there once and I remember our waiter saying that Ditka’s menu changes daily.

I just read in Food Arts about Charlie Trotters deconstructed Caesar with the 8 hour egg poached in a…what? and the olive oil and anchovy ice cream…one can only ask…where the heck is the PORK, Charlie? oh, it’s in Chicago! Rock on Chef Mav! One question, where are you on that Crab boat?

szg

Figures.

I had to cancel my upcoming Chicago trip (I was supposed to fly in Saturday). Not only am I missing a whole bunch of cool places recommended by Mike Nagrant, but now I can’t even take a side trip for this.

Nic Heckett

I love crispy pork cracklin’s as much as the next guy (unless the next guy is Ruhlman, Bourdain or Symon) but my business partner Chuck Talbott and I believe that crisping pork fat destroys any complex flavors that it may have. Probably a good thing if the pig has off notes associated with factory farming (methane, anyone?), but not so much for a speciality finished pork. To taste the subtle difference between our Woodlands Pork summer harvest (field corn, sunflowers, fresh pasture grass and barley forage) and our fall harvest (acorns, hickories, persimmon, pawpaw, squash)you would need to cook the bellies lightly, leaving the fat translucent. Any chefs or foodies here like to comment?

This almost makes me wish I still worked an old, crappy job that was in that area. And since Chicago is deep in “construction” season and every major road seems to be under construction, you might want to make that “two hours away.” But it can fly in Oakbrook Terrace, someone bring it to Schaumburg!!

Bonbon

It sounds to me like a lot of folks here are expecting bacon — it isn’t. It’s the uncured part that gets turned into bacon. It’s a bit like fried lard in essence. That said, it is one of my favorite winter foods, but I do long, slow cooking with a fair amount of spicing so that a lot of fat goes away.